Hughes Site (18MO1)

The Hughes Site (18MO1) is a Late Woodland village located on the north bank of the Potomac River in Montgomery County, Maryland. This palisaded village, measuring as much as 120 meters in diameter, contained oval or round structures with associated activity areas. Various types of subsurface features were uncovered, including storage pits, hearths, structural post molds, a palisade, and burials. This single component village was probably occupied for only a few decades between 1400 and 1500 A.D.

The Hughes Site is one of only two Keyser Complex village sites known in the Potomac Piedmont. The history and cultural traditions of the Hughes Site’s residents were more closely connected to other Native American communities west of the Piedmont than to nearby Native Americans groups. This site is critical for understanding community organization and the political and social environments of Late Woodland settlements during a period of stress and upheaval in the Middle Atlantic region.

The Hughes Site was first identified in 1937 by Nicholas and Roy Yinger. Nicholas worked on part of the site from March 1937 until July 1938, including the excavation of 73 burials. In 1940, Richard E. Stearns published Yinger’s investigations, providing a general description of the site, maps of features, and a description of some of the artifacts. Only a portion of Yinger’s investigation can be reconstructed, as most of his excavations were poorly documented and largely uncontrolled. Artifacts and human remains were curated at the Smithsonian, but the lack of a detailed artifact inventory has hampered the use of these items in interpreting the activities occurring at the Hughes Site.

In 1969, the Southwestern Chapter of the Archeological Society of Maryland conducted limited excavations at the Hughes Site. However, documents relating to the excavations could not be located, and information about this investigation is only available in three of the chapter’s 1969 newsletters.

American University’s Potomac River Archeology Survey conducted additional testing at 18MO1 during the summers of 1990, 1991, and 1994, using students enrolled in the university’s archaeological field school. Thirty-four shovel test pits, one one-by-thirty-meter trench, and 89 two-by-two-meter units were excavated in four areas of the site. Areas A and D were located in the western portion, Area B in the central part, and Area C in the eastern section of the palisaded village. The majority of the 460 archaeological features in these four areas, including 390 post molds, were exposed at the bottom of Level 2 of the plow zone. All soil was screened through ¼-inch mesh, and flotation samples were taken from the features.

A total of 178,200 lithic, ceramic, floral, and faunal artifacts were recovered from the American University excavations at the Hughes Site. They suggest that the residents of 18MO1 practiced a subsistence strategy based on plant cultivation, hunting, fishing, and the gathering of wild resources. It appears that they relied almost exclusively on locally available materials and rarely depended on trade with other Native American groups for additional provisions. Artifact concentrations across the site revealed that the western section of the village was used more intensively and for different purposes than the center and eastern portions of the site.

(Edited from Archaeological Collections in Maryland)